Chemical constituents of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) fruit in populations of central Alborz Mountains in Iran

Background and objectives: Hippophae rhamnoides L. known as sea buckthorn is a deciduous medicinal shrub belonging to Elaeagnaceae family. In this study, the most important chemical constituents of sea buckthornwere evaluated in wild populations of central Alborz Mountains in Iran during the growth season of 2014 and 2015. Methods: Phytochemical analysis of fruit pulp and seed oil traits was performed using different methods of chromatography such as spectrophotometry, HPLC and GC. Results: Based on the results of combined analysis of variance, significant (p≤0.01) difference ranges between populations were found in respect to fruit dry weight (21.32 to 32.03%), total phenolic compounds (20.78 to 34.60 mg/g), extractable tannin (1.99 to 5.74 mg/g), glucose (38.14 to 110.70 mg/g), total carotenoids (0.80 to 1.17 mg/g), lycopene (0.13 to 0.20 mg/g), β-carotene (0.18 to 0.26 mg/g), total flavonoids (0.98 to 2.80 mg/g), total soluble solids (TSS) (11.85 to 31.50%), vitamin C (1.47 to 8.96 mg/g), seed oil content (4.51 to 7.91%), and two major unsaturated fatty acids including linoleic acid (28.71 to 37.44%) and linolenic acid (21.52 to 28.28%). Factor analysis based on principal component analysis (PCA) revealed most important traits with the highest correlation factor such as vitamin C, carbohydrates, TSS, fruit dry weight (FDW), and tannin for the first component. Conclusion: content of vitamin C was the main variable in chemical constituents for effective detection of original wild populations of central Alborz Mountains. Accordingly, sea buckthorn populations were divided into four main clusters and groups with high diversity based on their chemical compositions.